Documentary on Lenin and Gorky's Complex Relationship Premieres on Sky Arte

A documentary titled 'Lenin e Gor'kij – Cent'anni di rivoluzione' will air on Sky Arte on Thursday, August 16, at 19:10. Directed by Stan Neumann, the film explores the relationship between Vladimir Lenin and Maxim Gorky, two iconic figures of the Russian Revolution. Despite Soviet legends portraying them as close friends, only one photograph exists of them together, taken in 1920 during the Second Congress of the Communist International. A decade later, Stalin ordered the image to be heavily retouched, removing all other delegates—many of whom had been killed in purges—leaving only Lenin and Gorky. The documentary uses archival testimonies and animations to recount the events between February and October 1917 in Russia. It also examines Gorky's two exiles: first in 1908 due to Tsarist persecution, and again in the 1920s, officially for health reasons but effectively forced by the Bolsheviks he once knew. The film adopts a dual perspective to cover the revolution's impact on both men.